Always Never Changes
by Blonde-Weasley1
Summary: AU. Xion's upset. Her scientist dad is rarely seen. Her older brother's girlfriend constantly picks on her. And she's falling in love with her best friend, who happens to be dating someone else. What's a girl to do?
1. Chapter 1

Xion quickly gathered up her things. She was already late for class and thanks to Larxene; she was going to be even later. She went to grab her essay for English when she realized there was a footprint on it. And it just so happened that it was the same exact design as the shoes Larxene was wearing that day. Xion tried desperately to wipe it off but it didn't help. The footprint was still there. Xion sighed and stood up. She headed off to her class. She didn't understand why her brother dated Larxene. He knew what a bitch she was, and yet he still dated her. She reached her classroom and cautiously peaked in the door.

"So happy you could join us Xion. Please take your seat." Xion felt her face heat up as she rushed to her seat. The teacher continued on with the lesson.

"What happened? I mean, why are you so late?" Xion looked over at her best friend Roxas. His blue eyes were filled with concern but he smiled at her.

"I was running late and tripped. The bell rang as I was gathering my papers." It wasn't a complete lie; Xion just didn't tell Roxas the Larxene had been the one to trip her.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Xion gave Roxas a big smile and turned back to the front of the classroom. Roxas didn't need to know. The less he worried about her the better.

[Linelineline]

Xion got home from school and threw her bag on the couch. Today had been hectic. Xion wanted to curl up in a ball under her covers and sleep, maybe cry if she could muster up the tears. She was about to go in her room when her stomach made a large growl. Xion sighed and decided to get some food first. Xion opened and nearly screamed. Inside was another one of her dad's experiments. Xion quickly shut it. One more second and Xion would have lost her appetite for the entire night. She started to head over to the pantry when the front door opened.

"Yeah, Larxene I know. Saturday right? I'll pick you up. I gotta go. Bye!" Xion looked over her shoulder at her older brother. He set his cell down on the table and turned to his sister. "Xion! How've you been my little sister?"

"Fine Axel. Where are you going Saturday?" Axel collapsed on to one of the kitchen chair.

"Some club with friends. Not sure." Xion grabbed a bag of chips and sat down at the table next to Axel.

"Which friends?" Xion's mouth was partially stuffed with chips.

"Err… Luxord… um… Actually I'm not sure."

"Larxene's going." Axel sat up and faced his sister.

"She's not all that bad Xion. Really." Xion shoved more chips in her mouth, choosing not to respond. Axel sighed. "How was school? I bet most of your teachers still hate me." A huge grin splashed on Axel's face.

"You should have been here after the first day. Most of them groaned after reading my last name. I could have sworn half of them mocked your famous line." Axel burst out in laughter.

"Well, they'll always remember me. Got it memorized?" Xion stuck out her tongue at Axel. She was glad he was home right now. Xion could get so depressed when Axel decided to stay over at college rather than stay at home. "So, have you seen dad today?"

"Nope, he was in the lab even before I woke up. He's working really hard on what it is." Xion had actually woken up that morning to an explosion and their dad's assistant running up the stairs to grab something. Their dad had been in his basement lab for days now with nearly no sleep. His lab assistant, Zexion, left around dinner each day and came back each morning about the time Xion was getting ready for school.

"I swear one day Zexion will get here and the crazy man will have blown himself up. And we wouldn't have known about it because he never comes up the damn stairs." Suddenly Axel's phone started to ring. He checked and sighed. "I gotta take this." Axel grabbed his phone and left the room. Xion reached in the bag of chips to grab more when she realized there were no more. She crumpled up the bag and tossed it in the trashcan. Xion felt her phone buzz. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw it was text from Roxas.

Roxas: Hey I'm free. Wanna grab ice cream?

Xion: Sure! BTW, Axel's home.

Roxas: He is? Does he wanna come?

"Axel!" Xion peaked into the other room. Axel looked over at his sister. He mouthed 'what?' "Ice cream. Roxas. Now." Axel nodded and gave a thumbs-up before going back to his conversation.

Xion: It's a yes for Axel.

Roxas: All right. Meet at the usual place?

Xion: Yep. See you there!

Roxas: See you!

Xion closed her phone and held it to her chest. Ice cream with Roxas, just like old times. Before he started dating her… Xion frowned at the thought of her. They had never liked each other, and when she started dating Roxas… Well, that hurt Xion the most. Worse than Larxene could ever do.

"You ready to go?" Axel leaned against the doorframe looking at his sister. He held up his car keys. "I'll drive us there."

"Have I ever told you what a wonderful older brother you are?" Axel smirked.

"No you haven't. Tell me more." Xion laughed and walked over to Axel.

"That's all the compliments you're getting for today." Axel stuck his tongue out at her. Xion stuck hers out at him. "Come on let's go."

"Are you hungry? You just finished-"

"Let's go!"

[Linelineline]

"Roxas! Little squirt. How have you been?" Axel put Roxas in a headlock and ruffled his hair.

"I was good until you messed with my hair." Axel let go of Roxas. "How's college been?"

"Boring, not nearly as exciting as high school. You two should enjoy your time in high school." Xion and Roxas laughed. "All right. Who's buying?" The three of them looked at each other until Roxas sighed and pulled out his wallet.

"Axel you need a job. I'd like my allowance for other things."

"Oh, like what?"

"Well…" Roxas' cheeks turned slightly pink. Axel smirked.

"A girl perhaps? Wait, aren't you dating Namine?" Roxas' cheeks turned pinker and he rushed off to get the ice cream. The whole time Xion had been staring at her feet trying not to listen to the conversation. She wished Axel hadn't brought her up. She always felt uncomfortable talking to Roxas about Namine. She hadn't realized Roxas had returned until he stuck the ice cream in her face.

"Sea-salt. As always." Xion smiled at the blonde boy and took the ice cream. At least that wouldn't change. The three of them would always have Sea-salt ice cream. Always.

**So… I had this brilliant idea. I've been playing **_**Birth By Sleep**_**. (Finished btw and awesome game!) And talking to my friend about Kingdom Hearts and the wheels in my head started turning. So it's definitely AU. I wasn't sure if I should continue the first chapter or end it here. So I ended it here. I've already got the rest of the story being planned out in my head. I'm still debating whether to add Terra, Aqua and Ven in here. I'm not sure who they would be. So far I'm pretty sure it's gong to be KH characters. No OCs at the moment!**

**Also, you get a cookie if you know who Xion and Axel's dad is!**

**Hope you like!**


	2. Chapter 2

Xion saw them strutting down the hall. She tried to ignore them but it was hard to do when they made as big an entrance as they could. Larxene still had her sunglasses and Namine's shoes were clicking against the tile floor. Namine's dress was so white that if you shone light directly on it, Xion swore it would reflect off and blind someone. Once they had passed Xion looked down at her black clothes. She hadn't always worn all black. Her wardrobe had always been a bit dark but once Roxas and Namine got together her clothes went from dark to pitch black. Roxas and Axel didn't seem to notice but others had. They use to make constant remarks about the "gothic" look. They eventually stopped because they didn't affect Xion anymore. Xion fixed her black shirt and continued putting her books away in her locker.

"Hiya." Xion nearly jumped. She turned and looked next to her to see Roxas.

"The hell Roxas? Why are you scaring the crap outta me?" Roxas poked her cheek.

"Cause…" Roxas smiled and poked her cheek again. Xion smacked his hand away. "Ouch Xion! That really hurt!"

"Well stop poking me and tell why you're so damn happy!" Roxas grinned and Xion and then he pulled something out of his pocket. Two tickets flashed in front of Xion's face. Xion couldn't help but gasp. "Is that…"

"Myde's- I mean Demyx's concert? Hell yeah! Ven just got them." Xion snatched one of the tickets and looked at it more closely. Sure enough it was a genuine ticket to the concert. Demyx was one of Axel's friend who, when he first picked up a guitar, sucked at music. But once he started taking lessons and started taking it a little more seriously became amazing. He changed his name to Demyx when he got a contract at a local recording studio/company, but his friends still called him Myde.

"You don't realize how much I love Ven right now." Xion gave Roxas a hug. "I think this just made my day." Xion kept smiling as she looked at the ticket again. Roxas plucked the ticket out of her hand. Xion whimpered and stuck out her lower lip.

"I'll be holding on to them. Not that I don't trust you… I'll just feel better if I have both." Xion cracked a smiled but held back the laugh.

"You're a dork Roxas." The five-minute bell rang and Xion quickly shut her door. "We should be late for class. I don't need a detention." Roxas agreed and the two took off for class.

[Linelineline]

Xion reached for the counter to steady her. Another explosion. The basement door opened and Zexion came running out of it coughing up a lung.

"Crazy old man!" He yelled it down the stairs though Xion knew her dad probably didn't hear it. Zexion came into the kitchen and plopped down in a chair. His white lab coat was covered in whatever had exploded. He leaned back and stared at the ceiling.

"What did dad blow up now?" Zexion looked over at the girl leaning against the counter.

"Actually… I don't know. He told me to do something while her worked on… whatever it was." Zexion looked back up at the ceiling and sighed. Xion sometimes wondered why he still helped out. Xion opened the cabinet and pulled out a glass. She filled it with water and set it down in front of the semi-ticked off boy.

"Here, you look thirsty." Zexion took a long look at the glass of water before finally picking it up and drinking it. He set it down once he was done and gave a half-hearted smile to Xion.

"Thanks."

"Your welcome, and I've told you before… That's not how you smile." Xion gave him a big smile and pointed at it. "Like this." Zexion tried again, giving a bigger smile to Xion. Xion couldn't help but laugh at the boy.

"Better?"

"Tons. You need to work on that smile. You also need to get out of the lab more. Maybe you can drag my dad with you…" Xion thought about the last time she had seen her dad. He rarely ever came out of the lab, forcing Xion and Axel to fend for themselves. He hadn't always locked himself in his lab. After their mom had died they slowly began to see him less and less. Eventually they had given up on seeing him and moved on in their lives.

"Well that'll happen when he finishes whatever it is…" Zexion sighed. "I wish he would tell me what the hell we're doing. Half the time he tells me to go off and read." Xion gave an exaggerated gasp.

"You mean you don't help him all the time?" Zexion smiled and gave a small laugh. "Aha! I knew you could laugh! You're not emo after all!"

"I never was emo! I just find it pointless to smile all the time." Zexion crossed his arms and turned form the girl. Xion stuck her tongue out at him.

"Whatever. I-" Xion would have continued but a voice called out from the basement,

"Zexion hurry! I just figured out something!" Zexion quickly got up and rushed to the basement shutting the door behind him. Xion sat staring at the door.

"Good talking to you…" Xion turned back and stared at the empty glass. She couldn't help but feel like that had some meaning in her life but Xion just couldn't place it. After staring at the glass for a while, Xion finally picked it up and put it in the sink. Xion looked over to the picture sitting on the windowsill above the sink. A small smile crept on her face as she looked at the Raven-haired women holding a tiny baby in her arms. Next to the women was the flame-haired boy that the baby called her brother. Hovering on the woman's other side was the man she called her husband. The four of them looked like such a beautiful family. Not a dysfunctional one that currently resides in the house. Xion picked up the picture and touched the woman. She couldn't believe how much she looked like her mother. The same dark hair, the same bright blue eyes, even the same facial structure. Xion could feel tears weld up in her eyes so she quickly put the picture down and turned away from it. There was no use crying over it. Her mother had been dead for years; Xion knew she wouldn't come back.

[Linelineline]

The ice cream tasted just as it always had. The three sat next to each other just as they always had. Sometimes they sat in silence, sometimes they didn't stop talking, or sometimes it was a mixture of each. Those moments of silence followed by constant chatter followed by more silence.

"I hate high school. So much."

"You sound like every other high schooler out there."

"Well, aren't you sick of it Xion?"

"Sure I am, but there's no real point in complaining when everyone else already does." Roxas stuck his tongue out a Xion. A laugh escaped her lips and she stuck her tongue out him the blonde boy sitting next to her.

"I swear, you two. Act your age." Xion looked over to the redhead sitting next to them.

"Well excuse me Mr. I-hang-out-with-high-schoolers. When are you going to act _your_ age?" Axel pointed his ice cream at Xion.

"I'll let you know that I do have friends besides you two munchkins."

"Who?" Axel turned and pointed his ice cream at Roxas.

"Ven."

"Doesn't count."

"Why the hell not?"

"He's my brother and looks exactly like me. Doesn't count." Axel stared at Roxas in disbelief for a second before throwing his arm around him and putting him in a headlock. Xion laughed as Axel messed up Roxas' hair.

"You know what you little blonde punk? I am not afraid to set your pretty hair on fire. How would the girls like it if little Roxy went bald?" Roxas struggled to get Axel off of him, but he was fighting a losing battle.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Roxas, you obviously don't know my brother well enough. Or have you forgotten what pyromaniac he is?" Xion took another bite of ice cream as Axel smiled deviously at Roxas. The flame-haired boy finally let go of the blonde one and Roxas immediately scrambled to the other side of Xion away from the pyro. Xion couldn't contain her laughter as Roxas nervously hid behind her like a little kid hiding behind his mom.

"You stay away from me. I don't trust you!" Axel roared with laughter as Roxas still cowered behind Xion. Xion finished her ice cream and poked Roxas with her empty ice cream stick.

"I don't think that's going to work." Roxas took another look at Axel before sitting next to Xion.

"It was worth a try." Xion laughed and poked Roxas in the cheek. Roxas smacked her hand away. "Would you stop that?" Xion stuck out her tongue and the three friends broke out into laughter. They finally settled down and watched the sunset. Xion couldn't help but smile. This was one of the best time's she had had in the longest time. Spending it with her brother and her best friend made it even better.

**Haha, I threw in a little Zexion/Xion, but don't worry, it was just that little section. And I must apologize to ****RokuShion-fan-1 because I said that Vexen was Axel and Xion's dad, but SahnxannRay007****guess made me rethink their parental unit a bit. Any who, their father will be revealed in a later chapter, it's not really important to the story at this point. Hope you liked!**


	3. Chapter 3

The red blood dripped down Xion hand. She had been in the middle of picking up a broken test tube when she cut her hand. She had frozen, but not in fear. She watched the blood slowly drip down her hand as if she was in a trance. It wasn't until her lab partner scream at the sight of the blood when Xion snapped out of her "trance." Xion blinked a few times and quickly stood up. She barely heard what the teacher was saying but she heard "Nurse" and took that opportunity to get out of the classroom. She broke into a run after getting out of the room. She stumbled into the nurse's office out of breath.

"One minute, why- oh dear!" The nurse ran up to her and grabbed her cut hand. She quickly ushered Xion to a seat. "We have to get this cleaned up immediately!" Xion sat there in a daze as the nurse rushed to clean up her cut and bandage it. She wondered if this was how cutters felt. She had just sat and stared at it, not doing anything to stop it. She hadn't feared for her life, she hadn't fainted over the blood. In fact, Xion felt a bit relieved. The raven-haired girl quickly came back to reality when whatever the nurse was using to clean her cut stung like hell.

"Holy shit!" Xion yanked her hand away. The nurse frowned and grabbed her hand again.

"Language please, and this will help the cut not become infected." The nurse began to wrap the cut. Once she was done, she gave it a small pat and went over to her desk. The nurse picked up a form and handed it to Xion. "Please get your teacher to fill this out. You may go now." As soon as Xion stood up the bell rang and she cursed her breath. The nurse mumbled something about language but Xion ignored her. She left the clinic and hurried through the students that were starting to pile out of their classrooms. She was almost to her classroom when someone stopped her.

"Looks like the Birdy got hurt." Xion glanced to her right and saw the blonde girl leaning against a locker.

"Shut up you bitch." Namine gave a look of hurt.

"Ouch, maybe Birdy isn't the right nickname." Namine straighten up and fixed her white dress. She took a step forward towards Xion. "Maybe Puppet is better. Since you seem to a emotionless, lifeless being."

"You cold, heartless bi-"

"Xion! Namine!" The two girls turned to the blonde boy running down the hall towards them. He had a big smile on his face and was completely oblivious to the hatred between the two girls. Roxas got to them and took a second to catch his breath both giving a big smile to the two girls. "I don't think I've ever seen you two together. It took me by surprise when I first saw it."

"Yeah, well… It won't last long. I had to talk to my teacher. I'll see you later Roxas. Ice cream right?"

"Of course, just like always." Namine scowled at Xion. That was the one thing Namine couldn't take from Xion. Watching the sunset and eating Sea Salt ice cream. Namine knew she could never take that away no matter how much she tried. Roxas was too loyal to his friends. Because of this, Namine didn't have the complete control over Roxas that she wanted. It made her hatred towards Xion burn even more. When Xion mentioned it, well, it made Namine's blood boil. She linked arms with Roxas and started to pull him away.

"Come on Roxy, I need a ride home. Larxene's going off somewhere and can't take me." Before Roxas could even utter goodbye to Xion, Namine dragged him off. Xion clenched her fist and was ready to punch the locker when a teacher walked by and gave her a questioning look. Xion quickly turned on her heel and stormed off back to her classroom. Xion threw the door to the classroom open and instantly noticed her teacher wasn't there. She slammed the paper down on his desk and quickly collected her books. She walked as fast as she could to her locker. Xion still had the urge to punch something but she wasn't willing to get a detention for destroying school property. Xion slammed her locker close but as she turned around to walk away she quickly slumped to the floor. The hallway had cleared but Xion still would have cried if there had been people there.

"Xion?" The raven-haired girl looked up to see the concerned face of a redheaded girl staring at her.

"K-Kairi…"

"Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah, I've just had a crappy day. That's all." Kairi gave her a warm smile and held out her hand to help the crying girl up. Xion took Kairi's hand and stood back up on her feet.

"If you need to talk… I mean we've known each other since Pre-K. Don't be afraid to talk to me, okay?" Xion gave nod and avoided looking at Kairi's violet eyes.

"I have to go. See you later Kairi." The raven-haired girl walked off. Kairi watched her as she walked down the hall and turned the corner out of sight. The redhead sighed and turned around only to be surprised by her boyfriend.

"Sora!" She kissed him on the cheek and hugged him.

"Was that…"

"Xion, your cousin's friend." Sora nodded in agreement. "Something's bugging her though. I've never seen her cry in all the years I've known her." Sora wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's waist.

"You worry too much about people Kairi. I'm sure she's get through whatever it is." Kairi sighed and kissed her boyfriend again.

"I hope you're right."

[Linelineline]

Namine clung furiously to her boyfriend. She wouldn't lose him. She had worked so hard to get him, and she wasn't going to lose him to that freak. Namine had always detested Xion. Even back when Namine had just moved into the area, there was something about Xion that Namine didn't like. She always hung around Roxas and was too friendly with him. Namine never bought the whole childhood friends thing.

"So Roxas…" Namine tugged at Roxas' sleeve. "My parents are out of town this weekend… You could come over…"

"Namine, I've told you before, no. We're not having sex. I don't want to risk anything." Namine kept quiet after that. She quickly got into Roxas' car and crossed her arms. Roxas sighed and started his car. They were about half way to Namine's house when she received a text.

Vanitas: Hey babe, get back tomorrow. Lunch? :)

Namine: No can do for lunch, but I'm free after school :)

Vanitas: Gotcha.

Namine quickly put her phone back into her purse. Roxas didn't need to know anything. Especially since it dealt with Vanitas. Namine looked out the window for the rest of the ride smiling to herself.

[Linelineline]

Xion flopped face down on her bed and groaned. She was ready to shoot herself in the head at that moment. Nothing for the rest of the day seemed to go right after she cut her hand. Axel couldn't pick her up from school, so she ended up walking the six blocks to their house. Luckily it was a sunny day, but Xion had three of her textbooks with her. She turned her head to the wall and looked at the picture tacked up next to her bed. It was taken years ago and was a bit faded around the edges. Roxas was hugging her so that her arms were pinned to her side. Axel was leaning on them with his arms around both of them. They were laughing and just having a good time. It hurt Xion to wish they could go back. _We should have stayed like that,_ she thought as her eyes drifted close. She woke up to someone poking her shoulder.

"Zexion, make note of this. I believe the subject to be dead."

"Axel, I don't think you should be poking her." Xion slowly got up causing Axel to jump back five feet while Zexion stayed perfectly still in the place where he was standing. "Told you."

"Axel, why the hell were you poking me?" Axel grinned at his younger sister.

"Darling sister, I was just making sure you were still alive. That's all." Axel gave Xion the biggest smile he could give her.

"He said we should experiment on you." The steel-blue haired boy bluntly stated. Axel turned to him in disbelief.

"Zexion! Whose side on you on?"

"Mine. Now if you excuse me, I have work to finish before I leave for the night." With that Zexion turned on his heel and left the room. Axel stuck his tongue out at the scientist. He turned back to his sister and gave her an apologetic smile.

"I'll buy your ice cream tonight Xion." Xion stood up and stared Axel right in the eyes.

"You better. I think you owe me big." Xion started to leave her room muttering about experiments. That was certainly something that would never change. Axel would still be the fool his was no matter how old he got.

**I was having serious writer's block for the Namine section. That's my excuse for the delay, that and real life and school. :)**


End file.
